Yu-Gi-Oh! Rowan's Beacon
by Blue-eyed Rancor
Summary: A high school sophomore finds her life changing after an encounter with a Number Hunter, and her household demons become the least of her problems when her curiosity gets her into more than she bargained for. She meets new people, makes new friends and a few enemies, all the while uncovering more about herself than she thought existed.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! I only own my characters and the plot.**

 **Chapter 1**

To some ignorance is bliss, sometimes all people want to do is find answers no matter the consequences. But no matter how people view ignorance, it's a fact that they all have dreams and hopes they want to see become a reality. This is a story about a man whose quest to fulfill his dream takes him and those around him through darker paths, and the consequences which drags an entire population into peril.

* * *

It was currently recess in Kero City high school and most students were seated at the cafeteria. A few people decided to stay back in their classes though, Sora was one of them.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Sora asked the girl in the seat next to his, a concerned look on his face.

"W-What? Yeah I'm fine." She answered after a while.

"Rei, you're sure you're okay?"

"Don't worry I'm fine." The girl, Rei, replied. "Aren't you going to the cafeteria?"

"I am, I'm waiting for you."

Letting out a sigh, Rei said. "I'm not hungry right now, you can go ahead. I'll catch up to you."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." The girl answered. "The weather's probably getting to me."

Sora nodded and reluctantly left for the cafeteria, still worried about his friend.

Rei sighed as she watched the black haired boy leave the classroom, there were only three people left. She gazed around the classroom to see who else were there. 'Some nerd and an ill person.' She thought.

For the umpteenth time that day she found her hand rubbing through her hair in a crazed manner. Apart from the eeriness the weather brought, something just didn't feel right to her. What annoyed her was that she didn't have remember it clearly, she was sure it had to do with the duel she had the day before.

"Stupid wind." She muttered as she looked out the window. The wind whistled loudly outside, forcing the tall trees to bend and blowing the fallen leaves about. The wind brought a certain chill in the air, maybe it was thanks to that she had been feeling distant throughout the day.

She stood up and stretched a little, deciding to meet up with Sora in the cafeteria. She tried her best to make her hair look presentable but it was futile, she was getting herself prepared for the crazy redhead comment her friends would certainly make.

Rei found the school's uniform to be rather nice, it consisted of a long sleeved white shirt with thin red cross stripes, a black tie, a red jacket and black pants for boys while girls wore black pleated skirts. The only problem Rei had with the uniform was its slightly above knee-length skirt, she never quite felt comfortable in it.

She bumped into someone just as she left the class, her eyes widening as she recognized him. She struggled to remember the boy's name as he quickly uttered an apology and began leaving. "Wait!" She blurted out.

The boy turned back to face her, his mouth curling into a noticeable frown as he soon as saw her. "You're Hiro, right?" Rei asked.

"Yes." The boy answered.

"You remember me right?" She asked.

"I think so, you're in the sophomore year right?" Hiro replied, his eyes narrowing as he spoke.

"No, no!" She exclaimed. "I mean yes, I'm in my second year… but don't you remember the duel we had yesterday?"

He paused for a moment, thinking. "No. I don't believe we've ever dueled before. In-fact this is the first time I'm talking to you, I don't even know your name."

"It's Rei, how can't you remember the duel! I used a Fairy deck, you used some sort of fiend deck and there was this X-" She stopped as he waved his hand in her face. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, sorry. I thought I saw a spider. You were saying?"

"Our duel yesterday, you don't remember?" Rei asked, exasperated.

"No." He answered, his brown eyes staring into Rei's brown ones. "I'm sorry, Rei, maybe you have me mistaken for someone else."

'Yeah, because a lot of people have long silver hair like yours.' Rei thought, sarcastically. "Sorry for taking your time." She said, sighing in defeat.

"No problem." The guy said, beaming as he left the confused girl.

'I think I need help.' She thought as she made her way to the cafeteria, hand on her forehead.

* * *

"Why's your hair all spiked up like that?" Yumi laughed as pointed at Rei's hair.

"I think I might actually be going crazy." The redhead replied, playing with her barely touched food.

Yumi, Sora and Rei were seated in the cafeteria, the latter having just joined them.

"I knew something was up." Sora mumbled.

"I had a duel with this guy yesterday, I don't remember it very well but as far as I know it was weird and there was this especially odd monster." Rei began.

"So?" Sora said, his mouth full after taking a bite of his burger.

Sending a look his way, Rei continued. "When I asked the guy about it he said he's never dueled me, he didn't even know my name."

"Are you sure it wasn't a dream that seemed too real?" Yumi asked.

"No! I'm sure he's hiding something." Rei argued.

Yumi and Sora shared a look, their friend was usually the down to earth one, maybe something was really up.

"Even if said person is hiding something, there's no way to find out." Yumi said.

'Yes there is, I'll just f-' Rei paused as she noticed the concerned looks her friends were sending her. Sighing she continued. "You're right it's probably nothing." She finally said. "I guess it's better to just forget about it."

"Right." Sora said. He was relieved that Rei would stop pressing the matter, but he wasn't entirely sure she would forget about it. Time and time again she had proven herself to be the kind of person who rarely forgets anything.

The bell rung, signifying the end of recess. The trio left the cafeteria for their classes, leaving Rei's hardly eaten food.

"See you guys after school, stay sane." Yumi joked as she parted ways with Rei and Sora, both waved back smiling.

"You sure you're fine?" Sora asked again.

"Not really, I should be back to normal after I take a nap at home." Rei said.

'Maybe she'll actually let it go.' Sora thought as he entered the classroom.

* * *

The classroom was filled with chattering students, the bell had gone and school was over for the day. Rei was gathering her books while Sora waited for her. "I'm thinking about going to the park to duel, are you coming?"

"Nah, we've got dinner with my dad's boss so I've got to be home early." Sora answered.

"Do you know if Yumi's free?"

"She said she has extra lessons or something at home." Sora said as Rei grabbed her bag and the two began leaving the class.

"Shit, I forgot something." Rei suddenly cursed. They had just arrived outside the school's compound.

"Don't worry, I'll wait for you while you go get it." Sora suggested.

"It might take a while, I don't want to make you late for your dinner, it's better you go." Rei said.

"Okay." Sora said. "See you tomorrow."

See you tomorrow." Rei waved back before making her way back to the school.

She paused as she passed by a familiar student. She turned her focus to said student, the silver haired boy. She watched as he made his way out of the school, following the road opposite the one Sora followed.

Rei contemplated tailing the boy or actually forgetting about the whole thing. 'They haven't felt the way I do about that monster, I have to get answers.'

With her mind made up, she followed the boy, making sure to keep a good distance so he didn't notice.

Rei's feet were beginning to hurt, she wasn't used to walking long distances. 'Where the hell is he going to?' She wondered.

* * *

She had been following the silver haired boy for a while now and despite initially going the opposite direction, they had wound up in the same park she intended to go to.

As usual, the park was rather busy and she had to quicken her pace so she wouldn't lose sight of him.

"Hisako Rei."

Someone suddenly grabbed Rei by the arm, stopping her in her tracks. "What are you doing? Let go of me!" The red head shouted, turning back and glaring at the person.

"Hisako Rei." The girl repeated.

Rei yanked her arm away and tried to find the silver haired boy, but he was long gone.

"Hisako Rei." The girl continued.

"What?" Rei shouted back, glaring daggers at the girl. While observing the girl, one thing stuck out, her short spiky hair that seemed to have been in a dyeing fiasco. The originally black hair had purple highlights randomly splattered about.

"Let's duel." She asked.

"It's Akano Rei." Rei replied, frowning. "And no, I have better things to do than dueling you." She turned to leave.

"Hisako Rei." The girl stated, sternly, an eerie tone seeping into her voice.

Rei ignored the girl, storming away in annoyance. She suddenly felt some sort of rope wrap around her wrist.

"I wasn't exactly a request." The girl said, now frowning. She tugged at the other end of the rope which was attached to her Duel Disk.

"What the hell is this?" Rei retorted, almost falling as the girl tugged on the rope.

"It doesn't matter what it is." The girl said, her expression changing to one of satisfaction. "Try as hard as you can, it won't detach until a duel is over." She continued, noticing Rei's struggle.

"Fine, I'll just beat you and get it over with." Rei said, seething with anger. "You're gonna regret this." She activated her Duel Disk and D-Gazer.

The girl activated her Duel Disk and D-Gazer. "You'll find that it'll be hard to make good on those words." If Rei hadn't been so angry she would've noticed the quick flash of purple in her opponent's eyes.

"AR Vision – link established." The augmented reality rose around the girls as they stared each other down.

"Duel!"

Rei: 4000 | Miki: 4000

"I'll go first." The girl said as she began studying her hand of five.

'Her name's Miki, huh.' Rei thought, noticing the life points counter. 'The irony.' She chuckled inwardly.

"I summon Aqua Phantom Bill!"

A small avain, much like a parrot in appearance appeared. The bird was peculiar because like it's name suggested it seemed to be made of water. (LV4, 1000 ATK)

"I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Miki concluded her turn as two reversed cards appeared behind the bird.

"A rather generic play, wouldn't you say so." Rei taunted as she drew. "I activate the Continuous Spell Card: Valhalla Hall Of The Fallen. This card allows me to special summon a Fairy-type monster from my hand if I control no monsters."

Miki watched on as the Spell Card appeared, her face now held a blank expression.

"I'll use Valhalla's effect to summon Airknight Parshath!"

A centaur knight garbed in angelic blue armor with golden rims appeared. A golden shield was in his left hand and a sword in his right. (LV5, 1900 ATK)

"I activate Celestial Transformation." Rei continued as another spell card materialized on her field. "Thanks to this I can special summon a fairy from my hand with its stats halved. I'll summon another Airknight Parshath."

A double of the centaur knight appeared, brandishing its sword. (LV5, 1900 – 950 ATK)

"Now, level 5 Airknight Parshaths, overlay!" The two monsters turned into two orbs of light which flew upwards. A red spiral portal appeared where the monsters formerly were, and the orbs shot into the portals. "I use these two monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Tiras Keeper of Genesis!"

The portal exploded and an angelic warrior appeared. He had long silver hair and golden brown wings. He was garbed in light silver armor and in his hands were a sleek sword and a shield with a red flame-like insignia. Two orbs of light orbited around him, signifying the overlay units. (RNK5, 2600 ATK, 2 OLU)

"Tiras attack her monster!"

The sword wielding fairy lunged at the smaller avain but the most surprising thing happened, his sword went right through the avain and struck Miki.

Rei: 4000 | Miki: 4000 – 1400

"What just happened?" Rei asked, slightly taken aback.

"The effect of my Aqua Phantoms." Miki said, brushing off the damage from the attack. "All Aqua Phantoms can't be targeted for my opponent attacks, so instead your attacks become direct ones."

"Why would you use monsters like that?" Rei said, rather unsettled.

"The effect of Aqua Phantom Bill activates." Miki continued, ignoring Rei. "When I take battle damage, I can increase his attack by the damage taken."

The parrot like bird suddenly doubled in size, though still dwarfed by Tiras. (LV4, 1000 - 3600 ATK)

"It doesn't matter because I activate Tiras' effect!" Rei countered. "After he attacks or is attacked, he destroys a card on the field. I'll use this effect to destroy your Aqua Phantom."

Miki seemed to hesitate as her hand approached her Duel Disk, eventually deciding against using her card.

Tiras' pointed the shield at the Aqua Phantom and a burst of energy shot out of the shield, obliterating the avian.

"I set a card and end my turn." Rei said with a satisfied smile as a reversed card appeared behind Tiras. "At the end of my turn, I have to detach one of Tiras' overlay units." One of Tiras' overlay units was absorbed into the shield. (RNK5, 2600 ATK, 2 – 1 OLU)

Miki drew her card silently, and her expression changed as she added it to her hand. She started chuckling, her eyes focused on the cards in her hand.

"What?" Rei couldn't resist asking. She was still pissed at Miki for making her lose the silver haired boy, but the girl had been acting off.

Miki's chuckle died down and a frown replaced her formally blank expression. "I summon Aqua Phantom Claw."

A new creature appeared, made out of water just like the other bird. It resembled a Lion in many ways, but unlike a Lion it's claws were accentuated, much like a wolverine's, and it's canines were not as pronounced. (LV4, 1800 ATK)

"Claw's effect activates since it was normal summoned, changing Tiras' battle position." The Aqua Phantom let out a loud roar and Tiras got to his knees, bringing his shield up in a defensive stance. (RNK5, 1700 DEF, 1 OLU)

"Aqua Phantom Claw, attack her monster!" Miki said and the creature obliged, lunging at the defensive fairy.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" Rei said, pressing a button on her Duel Disk. "Go, Lumenize!" Her reversed card flipped up, bathing the battling monsters with rays of light. "This card negates your attack and increases Tiras' attack by your monster's attack."

The Aqua Phantom was forced back to Miki's field, Tiras' sword glowing in the process. (RNK.5, 2600 – 4400 ATK, 1 OLU)

"Are you done?" Rei asked.

"I set a card face-down." Miki grit her teeth. "Turn end."

"My turn, draw." Rei said, adding a card to her hand, holding a total of two cards. 'She has three face-down cards… but since Tiras is impervious to destruction by card effects I should be mostly safe.'

"I switch Tiras to attack position." Rei said, causing her fairy to stand again. (RNK5, 4400 ATK, 1 OLU)

"I activate Forbidden Chalice. This negates Claw's effect and in return he gains 400 attack points." Miki said as the card materialized briefly on the field.

The Aqua Phantom's body hardened considerably, almost looking like ice. (LV4 1800 – 2200 ATK)

'Wouldn't it make sense to negate Tiras' effect and destroy it with a card effect?' Rei said, hesitating to continue her attack. The smirk on her opponent's face made her go through with it. "Tiras, wipe that smirk off her face!" The fairy lunged at the beast.

Rei's confidence vanished completely as Miki's trap card flipped up. "You're so easy to manipulate, I activate Reverse Trap!"

Rei gasped as Tiras' body darkened and his attack points dropped. "What did you do?!" (RNK5, 4400 – 800 ATK, 1 OLU)

The Aqua Phantom also experienced the same thing Tiras did groaning as it attack dropped. (LV4, 2200 – 1400 ATK)

"This card is a classic! How can you not know what Reverse Trap does?" Miki said, genuinely surprised. Her expression soon changed to that of disdain as she continued. "Though I wonder why I expected more from the likes of people such as yourself."

"What do you mean by that?" Rei retorted, offended.

"It simply turns attack gains into losses and attack losses into gains. Hence Tiras loses 1800 points and Claw losses 400 points. Enough to make Aqua Phantom more powerful!"

Seeing the opponent dazed, Claw took the opportunity and sprung on Tiras, destroying him.

Rei: 4000 – 3400 | Miki: 1400

Rei having recovered from having the tables turned on her proceeded with her turn. "I set a monster and a card face-down. Turn end."

The Aqua Phantom returned to it's semi solid state as it effects returned. (LV4 1400 – 1800 ATK)

"Oh c'mon how did you not expect that!" Miki asked. "The first thing a person fighting a Light deck does is find a way to counter cards like Lumenize, and that blasted Honest."

"Just make your move." Rei retorted.

"My turn, draw." Miki said, glancing at her hand of two. "Aqua Phantom Claw, attack her face-down monster!" The wolverine-like creature lunged at the face-down monster and slashed at it, only for its claws to harmlessly pass through it, much it would've done it.

The monster looked like an animated marshmallow with an upside down cartoon face. (LV3 500 DEF)

"Marshmallon can't be destroyed by battle, and when it's attacked while face-down, you get dealt with 1000 points of damage." Rei explained, a smug smile on her face.

"Stupid monster." Miki cursed as she was dealt a mild shock, her already low Life Points dropping into the danger zone.

Rei: 3400 | Miki: 1400 – 400

"I end my turn." Miki forced out.

"My turn." Rei said, drawing. "I would say this was fun, but it really wasn't. Thanks for wasting my precious time with this duel. I activate Xyz Reborn! This Trap Card resurrects Tiras and attaches itself to him as an overlay unit."

Tiras reappeared on the field, brandishing it's sword as a lone light orb orbited around him. (RNK5 2600 ATK, 1 OLU)

"Tiras attack and end this duel!"

Miki pushed a button on her Duel disk, her last reversed card flipped up. "I activate Solidify! This Trap negates the effect of Aqua Phantom Claw, switches him to defense mode and forces you to attack him."

Aqua Phantom Claw's body became solid once again and was put in the path of Tiras' attack. Tiras swung his sword in one mighty arc, cleaving the beast into two.

"I end my turn." Rei said and Tiras' only overlay unit was absorbed into his shield. (RNK5, 2600 ATK, 1 – 0 OLU)

Miki drew her card silently and Rei blinked, noticing that the once busy park now seemed silent. The only audible sound was that of the wind as the blew furiously as it had been doing since the day began.

Rei began to feel nervous as her opponent stood there, her head hung and her arms dropped, the metal studded jacket she wore flapping as the wind blew. "Miki?"

"Oh, forgive me." Miki started sarcastically, her head still down. "You have better things to do don't you?" She clenched her right hand tightly. "Don't worry, I'll end it now!" She shouted in a voice that didn't sound like hers, whipping her head up. "Since you have a monster and I don't, I can special summon Aqua Phantom Falco."

Another Aqua Phantom avian appeared. Unlike the rest, Falco didn't seem to be completely made of water, it had black claws, black wing tips and a tooth stuck out at the side of its beak. (LV5, 0 ATK)

"I activate Inferno Reckless Summon!" Miki continued, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Since I special summoned Falco which has less than 1500 Attack Points, I can special summon two more Falcos from my deck."

Two creatures identical to the Aqua Phantom appeared. (LV5, 0 ATK)×2

"You're going to Xyz summon!" Rei gasped.

"Yes." Miki confirmed. "But not just any monster!" She started laughing. "Level five Aqua Phantom Falcos, overlay!" The three monsters took to the air, all enveloped by a pale blue aura, and a galaxy styled portal appeared. "I use these monsters to construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!" The monsters flew into the portal and the portal exploded.

"From the deepest crevice of the sea, where man doesn't dare step foot in, Appear! Number 62: Mist Phantom Bake-Kujira!" Miki's laughter turned into cackles as a pale blue number 62 appeared on her left cheek.

Out of the portal rose a large suspended mass of water in the shape of a ball. A sizzling sound could be heard as the water slowly turned into vapour. The entire field was enveloped by fog as the water completely vanished and the outline of a large creature started to form. The spectral creature let out a loud shriek as it fully came into view, it was a very large whale with bluish-black skin. The number 62 was visible on the top of the whale, just next to it's blowhole. (RNK5, 2800 ATK, 3 OLU)

"N-Nu-Number..." Rei chocked out, her eyes widening in shock.

Two small fishes appeared next to the whale. (LV1, 500 DEF) ×2

"Hisako Rei!" Miki said, the whale looming over both duelists as she did. "It's time you get what you deserve!"

"Bake-Kujira, attack!"

 **A/N: Yeah, this is a** **n** **alternate universe** **story focused on the** **number** **cards** **. As vague as things might seem in this chapter, the next chapter will reveal more. Since it's an alternate universe I'll be using custom number cards, or in special occasions where I feel compelled to use an original num** **ber card.**

 **Some archetypes I've created will show up in the story,** **but there won't be many of them. A** **t the end of each chapter where a custom card was used, I'll write the descriptions below the Author's notes.**

 **Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **Custom Cards**

 **Aqua Phantom Bill**

 **LV4**

 **Water/Winged-Beast/Effect**

 **1000 ATK/ 1000 DEF**

 **This card cannot be targeted for attacks as long as it is face-up on the field** **but does not prevent your opponent from attacking you directly.**

 **Each time you take battle damage from an opponent's monster attack, you can increase this card's ATK by an amount equal to the damage taken.**

 **Aqua Phantom Claw**

 **LV4**

 **Water/Beast/Effect**

 **1800 ATK/ 600 DEF**

 **This card cannot be targeted for attacks as long as it is face-up on the** **field but does not prevent your opponent from attacking you directly.**

 **When this card is normal summoned, you can change the battle position of an opponent monster. When this card destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the graveyard, you can add an "Aqua Phantom" card from your deck to your hand.**

 **Aqua Phantom Falco**

 **LV6**

 **Water/Winged-Beast/Effect**

 **0 ATK/ 1000 DEF**

 **If your opponent controls a monster and you don't, you can special summon this card from your hand. When this card declares an attack, you can banish an "Aqua Phantom" monster in your graveyard to target an opponent monster, if you do this card gains ATK equal to the ATK of the target monster.**

 **If this card is selected as an** **attack target, switch it to defense position.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Time seemed to slow down for Rei as memories of a duel involving a Number surged back.

*Flashback Begin*

She saw herself hunched over her opponent, mumbling words she couldn't hear. The fallen boy was wearing a middle school uniform, albeit it was now dirty and torn in several places.

The silhouette of a large monster could be seen right behind her, the creature shadowed despite the flames emanating from its own body.

She could see the look of fear and terror on the boy's face, and it pleased her to see her squirming and begging for mercy.

"Tell me, how does it feel?" She heard a voice say. The words seemed to come from her mouth, but they sounded nothing like her.

The boy whimpered below her, desperately trying to crawl away, but failing.

*Flashback End*

Rei let out a scream as the Number's attack struck. It was how she imagined getting smashed by the ocean wave would feel like, but imagining it was way different from feeling it.

Rei: 3400 - 3200 | Miki: 400

"What's wrong, the pain too much to bear?" Miki taunted. "Well don't go fainting on me, because this is just beginning."

Rei could hardly make out her opponent's words, her groans of pain were the only audible sounds to her. Her breathing became ragged as she forced herself to her knees. "Numbers' attacks are real." She whispered to herself over and over again.

Seeing her opponent up on her feet, a smirk appeared on Miki's face. "Good to see you're still alive and well."

"Just end your turn." Rei spat back.

"One face-down card. That does it for me." Miki said, a reversed card appearing before her. The phantom whale let out a loud shriek that echoed through the empty park.

"You won't get away with this, whatever it is you're doing." Rei said as she drew, wincing in pain as she did so.

"Ideally I wouldn't." Miki shrugged. "But if you did, I see no reason why I can't."

Rei's face contorted into an expression of shock. "What do you mean?"

"Playing the Amnesia card are we?" Miki chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll be damned if by the end of this duel you don't remember what you've done and pay for it!"

Rei felt a sudden pang of guilt envelope her, the memory from before playing back again. "I-I don't know what you're talking about!" She said, her voice strained and filled with frustration.

"Stop your stalling and get on with the duel." Miki shot back.

Rei took a look at the card in her hand, feeling a spark of hope as she saw it. She gazed at the Marshmallon on her field, wondering if to use her card or not. 'Marshmallon can't be destroyed by battle, but her number card might have an effect that could destroy it. If I use my Darklord, I can destroy it one way or another…'

'Here goes nothing.' Rei thought. "I release Marshmallon to advance summon Darklord Desire."

The Dark attribute fairy appeared, garbed in black armor with golden designs. The armor spiked out at its elbows and two spikes were also present on its helmet. Two crimson wings aided it in its flight as it stayed suspended before Rei. (LV10, 3000 ATK)

"I can summon Darklord Desire by releasing only one Fairy-type monster." Rei said.

"Don't insult me. Unlike you, I know the effect of cards outside my own deck."

Rei ignored Miki's statement, continuing her play. "Darklord Desire, attack her Mist Phantom!"

The fairy brought up its right hand towards the Number, shooting a blast of dark energy at the whale.

Miki burst out laughing as the attack harmlessly passed through the Number and headed for one of the fishes, blasting it into oblivion.

"So the Number's like the rest of your Aqua Phantoms, huh?" Rei muttered.

"Yes, for once you get something right." Miki replied. "Mist Phantom Bake-Kujira, like my Aqua Phantoms, cannot be attacked but does not stop you from attacking directly. So in this case one of my Phantom Fish Tokens takes the fall instead."

Rei grit her teeth in annoyance. "I end my battle phase. Now I activate Darklord Desire's effect, by losing 1000 Attack Points, he allows me to send a monster you control to the graveyard."

The fairy once again shot a burst of energy at the whale, its power dropping as it did so. (LV10, 3000 - 2000 ATK)

"I don't think so, if Bake-Kujira would ever be removed from the field, I can destroy a Phantom Fish token instead." Miki countered, the whale following with another shriek and the token bursting into pixels.

"I end my turn." Rei forced out, with a bare hand she couldn't do anything else.

"My turn, draw." The smirk returned to Miki's face as she spoke. "I activate Bake-Kujira's effect! By detaching an overlay unit, I can special summon a Phantom Fish Token." (RNK5, 2800 ATK, 3 - 2 OLU)

One of the blue orbs orbiting the whale was sucked into it's open mouth, and seemingly out of nowhere a much smaller fish, one just as much of a specter as the whale was, appeared. (LV1, 500 DEF)

"I summon Aqua Phantom Whisker."

Another animal made of water appeared, this one a member of the cat family. It looked like a cheetah mostly, but it ears looked a bit too cat-like to be fully called one. (LV4, 1700 ATK)

"Mist Phantom Bake-Kujira, destroy Darklord Desire!"

A torrent of water rushed towards the fairy as Rei braced herself for the pain to come. The water smashed into both Rei and her fairy, destroying the latter while the former was smashed into the railing behind her.

Rei: 3200 - 2400 | Miki: 400

Rei let out a shout as her back made impact with the metal railing. She writhed in pain as her hands rubbed her aching back. After almost a minute she found the energy to bring herself up.

"Aqua Phantom Whisker, attack!" Miki ordered and the feline ran towards the redhead.

All prior assumption about the strength of a creature made of water vanished as soon as the feline struck Rei. She let out a faint gasp as she doubled over, it felt like she was delivered a really, really hard punch in the gut.

Her opponent's amused laughter rang out as she stared at the ground. She saw the rain drop down in a drizzle for a while, it then proceeded to pour down. There was no accompanying thunder or lightning, just the sound of the rain pouring down from the gray sky.

*Flashback Begin*

The sky was vibrant, and the sun shining brightly above. The sounds of digital explosions filled the air in the park.

Rei was lost in her thoughts, a blank expression was on the redhead's face as she sat on a bench. She was all alone, Sora and Yumi having gone elsewhere.

"Um, hey."

She was broken out of her thoughts as a hand waved across her face. "Are you okay?" She heard someone say.

"Yeah. Sorry, was just daydreaming for a minute." She answered.

"I was wondering if you would like to duel?" The boy asked, raising his Duel Disk.

"Sure." She answered after a moment. "It wouldn't make sense to continue to sit here and daydream."

He smiled. "I'm Sho."

"Rei." She answered as she stood.

"Prepare yourself, I'm one of the best duelists in my school." Sho boasted.

"I think I should be able to hold my own." Rei chuckled. She recognized the uniform he wore, it was for a middle school she'd seen in the area, not too far away from the park.

" _AR Vision - Link Established._ " They heard after activating their respective Duel Disks and D-Gazers.

"Duel!"

*Flashback End*

Rei: 2400 - 700 | Miki: 400

Rei's face scrunched up in disgust as her hand rose and dropped to the ground, splashing a bit of water onto her face. She suddenly hated the fact that the Duel Disks were made waterproof. She felt her hand rise again, pulled by the rope Miki had attached to it. She reluctantly brought herself to her knees, it was either she moved or get a mouthful of dirty water.

"If you're going to be like this each time I attack, I'd rather we go elsewhere." Miki complained, she was equally drenched by the rain which hadn't stopped. "Chop chop." She pulled on the rope again, forcing Rei to her feet.

"I ended my turn a while ago, you were probably too dazed to realize. Make your move."

"I draw." She pulled the card off her deck. "I set a monster and end my turn." A horizontal reversed card appeared before the staggering girl.

"And so the struggle continues…" Miki said, adding a card to her hand. "I could end it now… but what's the point in that? I intend on making you suffer for as long as possible. I summon Aqua Phantom Ivory."

A large elephant made of water appeared. For a being made of water, its tusks were very solid looking. (LV3, 1300 ATK)

"Ivory attacks your face-down monster!" Miki said, pointing at the reversed card. "When Ivory attacks a monster in defense position, he gains 1000 Attack Points."

The elephant's entire body suddenly solidified, smashing into the face-down monster which was destroyed as soon as it was revealed. (LV3, 1300 - 2300 ATK)

"Since Ivory destroyed your monster, the attack boost lasts until your next turn ends."

"That was my Shining Angel you destroyed, so I get to summon another one due to its effect." Rei managed to get out, and just like she said, a celestial being in a white robe appeared. (LV4, 1400 ATK)

"Aqua Phantom Whisker, attack!" Miki ordered. "As long as there's another Aqua Phantom on the field, Whisker can attack twice each turn." She continued as the feline struck the angel, destroying it.

Rei: 700 - 400 | Miki: 400

"I'll summon another Shining Angel using my destroyed one's effect." Rei said and another robed angel appeared. (LV4, 1400 ATK)

"Go! Aqua Phantom Whisker, destroy the last one." Miki continued and the feline clawed at Shining Angel, who promptly shattered into pixels.

Rei: 400 - 100 | Miki: 400

"I'll summon Marshmallon with Shining Angels' effect."

A familiar cartoon dessert appeared in the field, a goofy inverted smile on its face.(LV3, 300 ATK)

"Turn end."

Rei's mouth hung open in shock. Noticing the redhead's expression Miki spoke. "I told you I would make sure you suffer for as long as possible, and I mean it. Get on with your turn."

Rei drew her next card silently, biting down on her lip as she saw the card. She was doing all she could to stay strong, but she didn't know how long she could hold up. Each attack from the Number had put her in a whole new world of pain, pain she had never felt before in her entire life. She didn't want to take another attack from the monster, she didn't want to duel anymore, even the attack from Miki's other monsters hurt like hell. "I just want it to stop."

"Funny…" Miki started. "I remember those words all too well." She let out a mirthless laugh. "Do whatever you will, it won't change anything. I'll make sure you get exactly what you deserve!"

"I switch Marshmallon to defense position and end my turn."

The cartoon dessert didn't go through any noticeable change as it battle position changed. (LV3, 500 DEF)

Aqua Phantom Ivory's body returned to its original state. (LV3, 2300 - 1300 ATK)

"My turn, draw!" The black haired girl declared as she drew. The rain was still pouring down, and as uncomfortable as she was, she wasn't even thinking about ending it now. 'An eye for an eye, isn't it?' "Mist Phantom Bake-Kujira, attack! Malicious torrent!"

A huge wave rose up above both duelists, before crashing down and smashing into Rei and her defensive monster.

*Flashback Begin*

Rei was in the middle of another duel with Sho, she wasn't enjoying herself. A blank expression was on her face as she watched her opponent make his move. The comments by the spectators rang out continuously in her ears, along with words spoken by another voice, smooth and enticing it was.

"You never quite seem to be able to completely escape, do you?"

'No.' She thought.

"Do you want to?"

'Yes.'

"I have a way to accomplish that. You just have to let me in."

'I-I… what way?'

"No one ever seems to care, do they? Your name is all that seems to matter isn't it?"

'Yes.'

"I can change that."

'How?'

"You always bear it all, never stand up for yourself. You can't, you won't, because you think you shouldn't, because they said you shouldn't!" The voice became stern, growing louder.

"This is all his fault, all their fault. It's time you stopped being scared, it time you changed things, take matters into your own hands."

'But t-'

"They said, didn't they? How long are you going to let them tell you what to do, so far that's what you've done and look where you are now?" The voice became lower, taking a soothing tone. "Let me in and I can stop it, no, we can stop it. We will stop it!"

'We can stop it…' Rei answered, she knew she shouldn't give in to whatever owned the voice, but she wanted to.

*Flashback End*

"Turn end."

"Draw." Rei glanced at her hand, it consisted of a meager two cards, one of which would allow her to stall for a while. "I set a card face-down, turn end."

Miki drew just as the reversed card appeared, adding it to her hand without so much as a glance. "I activate Bake-Kujira's effect, by detaching one overlay unit, I can destroy any number of Water attribute monsters I control and destroy an equal number of cards you control."

Another one of the overlay units was sucked into the whale's mouth. It opened it's mouth shortly after, sucking in the elephant and the cheetah. (RNK5, 2800 ATK, 2 - 1 OLU)

"By destroying Aqua Phantoms Whisker and Ivory, I'll destroy your Marshmallon and your face-down card."

"I chain my Trap Card to your monster's effect activation." Rei countered as her reversed card flipped up. "Threatening Roar! Now you can't attack this turn." Both the Trap Card and Marshmallon shattered afterward.

"Turn end."

"We can stop it. We can stop it. We can stop it." Rei chanted as she drew. Miki noticed, but did nothing besides raising an eyebrow.

"We can stop it, we can stop it." She continued as she placed a card on her Duel Disk. "We will stop it!"

"I activate The Supremacy Berry. Since I possess less Life Points than you, this Spell Card grants me 2000 more."

Rei: 100 - 2100 | Miki: 400

"Next, I activate Soul Charge." Rei continued. "This allows me to special summon any number of monsters from my graveyard, but in return I'll take 1000 damage for each and forgo my battle phase this turn."

Two Shining Angels reappeared, fully dressed in their robes. (LV4, 800 DEF)×2

Rei: 2100 - 100 | Miki: 400

"We will stop it!" Rei shouted as a crimson number 12 etched itself on the right side of her neck. "Level 4 Shining Angels, overlay!" The two monsters were enveloped in a glow of light as they shot upwards, a galaxy-like portal appearing where they used to be. "Using these monsters, I construct the Overlay Network." The monsters shot into the portal.

"Incinerate our foes and reduce them to nothing! Xyz summon! Number 12: Alin the Bonfire!" Rei shouted as the portal exploded in a show of light.

A very large piece of rock appeared out of the portal, it looked molten as though it was magma solidified. Numerous cracks appeared along the sides of the rock, and a hand shot out through it. More of the rock broke off as another hand shot out this one from the left. Two flame coloured wings uncurled, pushing the rest of the rock away and revealing the creature that lay within. The Fairy-type monster stood about eight feet tall, he wore charred black armor over most of his body, a burnt and dirty silver cape billowing behind him. His eyes held no emotion whatsoever, leveling a blank stare at his opponent, steam surrounding him as the rain poured down. (RNK4, 2000 ATK, 2 OLU)

Rei staggered, holding her head in pain. She couldn't think clearly through the pain, and it felt worse than any migraine she'd had in her entire life. It was like someone was shouting in her mind and banging her head at the same time. The words were incoherent, but she felt the anger they held.

Miki took a step back in shock as Number 12 appeared on the field. "B-B-But that's not your number?!" At the very appearance of the number she felt her chances of winning start to grow slim.

Rei yelled out, dropping to her knees as she grasped her head in pain. She couldn't hear anything anymore and her vision was getting blurry.

Miki noticing her opponent's behavior felt some sort of concern, concern that was pushed aside as soon as her hate for the girl surged back. She couldn't bring herself to speak, however.

That was the last thing Rei saw before losing consciousness, the look of conflict on Miki's face.

* * *

*Flashback Begin*

Rei watched, an emotionless expression on her face as the embodiment of all her hate and anger attacked her opponent.

Monstrous and destructive it was, a being made of nothing but flames, harbouring nothing but the hate and anger that drove it. Sho let out a scream as it smashed into his monster, an unfortunate dragon-like creature made of water.

Rei: 2000 | Sho: 1500 - 1300

Sho whimpered as the monster approached him, the boy's clothes already singed and torn in several places.

The monster absorbed one of the two light orbs surrounding it and its flames intensified. (RNK 5, 2500 - 3000, 2 - 1 OLU)

Sho screamed in pain as the monster struck again, bathing him in its flames as Rei watched.

*Flashback End*

The redhead woke up to a start, breathing heavily as her eyes opened. Miki was nowhere go be found and the rain had stopped. She looked around to see she was still in the park, albeit another part of it, sitting on a bench.

"Take it easy, her Number did damage you after all." She heard someone say.

She turned her head to see said person, and her eyes narrowed as she set eyes on the silver haired boy, who was still wearing his uniform. She would've yelled all sorts of profanities at him had she been feeling normal at that time. He sat next to her, saying nothing.

She turned and faced him, intending to ask him what happened, but was met with his hand waving in her face like before. "What the hell is that?!" She retorted, slapping his hand away. "Say something about a spider and I swear you'll regret it!"

"Well I-" he started before sighing. "Never mind."

Rei raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "What happened?"

Hiro didn't look happy about it, but he told her nonetheless. "Well after you summoned Number 12 and lost consciousness, the duel sort of ended as a draw."

"What happened to Miki and her number?"

"I've got number 62 now." He answered, showing her the card.

Rei felt her guilt return as she remembered the black haired girl and Sho.

"He was her brother." Hiro continued. "That's why she kept going on about payback." He regretted telling her this as she soon began sobbing into the sweater draped around her shoulders. 'Oh, crap'

"And I hurt them both." She chocked out between sobs. "They didn't even do anything to me and I lashed out at them."

Hiro fidgeted uncomfortably, wondering what he was supposed to do, he didn't sign up for this. "Um, there there." He tapped her slightly on her shoulder. "It wasn't your fault, it was the Number's."

"But part of me was happy about it, I could feel it." She said, sniffling.

"We're all humans aren't we? We all have negative thoughts we push aside and try to cover." Hiro began, his eyes narrowing in thought. "The Numbers just prey on those feelings and amplify them. A person possessed by a number is never really in control."

His words didn't exactly make her feel better, but at least it reduced her sobbing. "What about my Number, are you with it?"

"No, you're still with it."

"Why? Just take them!" She said, searching through her deck.

"It doesn't work like that." He explained. "Numbers can only be won through a duel and, before you suggest dueling, you're in no condition for that."

"But we dueled yesterday, why didn't you take it then?" Rei asked.

"I did." He said, showing her another black bordered card.

"Number 19: Firestorm Golem…" She gasped. She brought out another card from her Extra Deck and stared at it. "Number 12: Alin The Bonfire… why do I have another one?!"

"I'm not exactly sure." Hiro answered, a hand brushing through his hair. "But unlike Number 19, this one won't possess you."

"Then why did I lose consciousness after summoning it?"

"Eh, I guess you can call it some sort of trauma." Hiro replied.

"How do you know this stuff about the Numbers?"

He hesitated before answering. "I'm a Number hunter… and the same thing happened to me."

"How did you become a Number hunter." Rei asked.

Hiro hesitated once again. "The man that took my first Number was a Number hunter and he told me all about them, how there are a hundred of them, and how they prey on people's emotions."

"What am I supposed to do now? What about Miki?"

"She forgot all about the Numbers, I'm unsure if she'll stop antagonizing you though." He exhaled sharply, thinking for a while before continuing. "Well you can keep the Number and become a Number hunter, but if you decide you don't want to keep it we can duel tomorrow."

"I'll think about it."

He stood up from the chair, he looked like he was about to speak again, but he decided against it. "Thanks." He heard Rei say. He muttered something she didn't hear before leaving.

"Wait, why did you lie about the duel?" She shouted. He didn't respond, probably didn't hear her, she thought.

* * *

Hiro was standing in a phone booth, he had been there a while, talking to a man over the phone. "Is that supposed to happen?" He asked.

He waited to hear the man's reply before speaking. "She didn't mention that, and I doubt something obvious as that would be ignored."

The man spoke again and Hiro answered. "I offered her a chance to help?" He said, though the statement sounded more like a question.

"Oh, really?" He replied after a while. "Great." His tone became one of irritation.

"I'm pretty sure I can handle it by myself." He continued, clearly irritated by whatever the man said.

"Fine." He answered in mild annoyance, replacing the phone and cutting the man's laughter off.

His expression turned stoic as he left the phone booth for his home, deep in thought.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Here's chapter 2. I felt like the first chapter didn't do well in exploring the characters so I decided to show a bit about Rei, there's still questions to be answered but I feel like this makes her a much better character than what the first chapter made her out to be.

About the Numbers' names. I feel like I lack ingenuity in that department, but I'd like to think I tried. I'm horrible when it comes to creating names, but I'll try harder for future numbers.

Fun fact: The Bake-Kujira myth was actually what inspired me to create the Aqua Phantom archetype, making it the deck's number seemed like the right thing to do.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, till next time.

Custom Cards

Aqua Phantom Whisker

LV4

Water/Beast/Effect

1700 ATK/ 1000 DEF

This Card cannot be selected as an attack target as long as it is face-up on the field, but does not prevent your opponent from attacking directly.  
If you control another "Aqua Phantom" monster, this card can attack twice each turn.

Aqua Phantom Ivory

LV3

Water/Beast/Effect

1300 ATK/ 500 DEF

This Card cannot be selected as an attack target as long as it is face-up on the field, but does not prevent your opponent from attacking directly.  
When this card attacks a defense position monster, it gains 1000 ATK until the end phase. If this card destroys that defense position monster it gains 1000 ATK until your opponent's end phase.

Number 62: Mist Phantom Bake-Kujira

RNK5

Water/Xyz/Beast/Effect

2800 ATK/ 1800 DEF

Three LV5 WATER monsters  
When this card is Xyz summoned, special summon 2 "Phantom Fish Token" (Fish-Type/WATER/Level 1/ATK 500/DEF 500). If this card would ever be removed from the field, you can destroy a "Phantom Fish Token" instead.  
Once per turn you can detach an Overlay Unit to activate one of the following effects:  
-Special summon a "Phantom Fish Token" to your side of the field.  
-Destroy any number of WATER monsters you control, and destroy a number of your opponent's cards equal to the number of WATER monsters you destroyed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Rei fidgeted uncomfortably, to her left sat Miki; the girl who, about a week ago, had been hell bent on making her suffer. Like Hiro said, she seemed to have forgotten all about the Number fiasco, but that didn't make it less weird for Rei.

Miki seemed normal enough to Rei, her black hair still had the purple highlights and her crimson eyes looked lively. She looked weird in the uniform though, Rei had to admit.

"Um, hey." Rei turned as she heard Miki speak. "Can I see your Biology note? I didn't get the last part."

"No problem." Rei replied, she still felt guilty about what she did to Miki's brother, and her forgetting didn't change that. The sheepish smile that the girl was giving only made her feel worse.

"Thanks." The black haired girl said as Rei handed the notebook to her.

"You're welcome." Rei replied. She wasn't stupid enough to apologize to the girl though, Miki seemed like the impulsive type of person, and Rei was almost certain she wouldn't forgive her if she reminded her about the Number incident.

To Rei's right, Sora looked forward lazily, he didn't seem to pay much attention to the teacher. Rei still found it hard to believe that Sora was one of the top students of the class, he never seemed that interested during classes and he spent most of his free time dueling, leaving one to wonder how he studied.

"Yumi and I were considering going to a card shop we found after school." Sora whispered to her. "Are you coming with us."

"Sure." She replied. "And don't forget about me this time."

"C'mon, it was just once."

"I don't even understand how you forget a person. You guys were the ones to invite me!" She continued. "Or maybe, enthralled by the pink-haired beauty, you couldn't bear the thought of a third wheel." She teased, giggling as Sora coughed uncomfortably, a pink tinge fairly visible on his cheeks.

"Anyway, I'm thinking of changing my deck entirely." He said.

"Why?" Rei inquired.

"I don't know." Sora answered. "I guess I'm just not feeling it anymore."

"So what will it be this time? Dragons, maybe Heiratics?"

"I'm not sure yet. It depends on what catches my attention, I guess."

Rei was about to reply, but she stopped as she saw the teacher watching them, instead she decided to continue taking notes after Miki returned her notebook.

* * *

"What have you decided to do?" Hiro asked, holding the sweater Rei had just returned.

"Really? That's what you're asking. Whatever happened to we can duel tomorrow?" Rei asked. She hadn't seen Hiro since the duel, no matter how hard she had looked for him, she wasn't able to find him.

"I've been busy." He replied. "What have you decided to do?"

"I'm not going to keep it." She answered. "I can't duel today because I have somewhere else to be, so how does after school tomorrow sound like?"

"Sure, no problem." Hiro responded, he didn't seem to care about her refusal to help Number Hunting.

"Wait, so you're not gonna try and make me help you?" Rei asked as Hiro started to leave.

"Why? Should I?" He asked, as stoic as ever. "The less people that have the cards, the better."

'Brightening up once in a while wouldn't kill you.' Rei thought as the boy continued his walk down the hallway. She had cornered him as soon as she spotted him. Remembering that she had Yumi and Sora waiting for her, she also left.

* * *

The card shop Sora spoke of had a name Rei couldn't help but cringe at. "The Card Shack, really?"

"Don't judge a book by it's cover." Yumi said. "Even if it's a horrible one."

"Just enter the shop and stop criticizing it." Sora playfully pushing them in. The shop's exterior was painted blue, the name proudly shown on a board above the door.

The inside of the shop was way better than the exterior implied. The counter was situated on the left side of the shop, the card packs and decks were situated there, and the rest of the large space was occupied by numerous tables and chairs for the customers. A surprisingly much amount of people were seated in the card shop, either trading cards or engaged in table-top battling. 'The good old way.' Sora thought.

"The shop is actually not bad." Rei admitted as the three looked around for a vacant table.

"Kei!" Sora exclaimed as he made his way to a boy sitting at a table.

"Oh, Sora." The boy, Kei replied, smiling as he looked up.

"Hi." Both girls said.

"Hi." Kei replied.

"Dude, I didn't know you played Duel Monsters." Sora said, grabbing a chair from a vacant table and sitting next to the boy.

"Yeah, I didn't know you did either." Kei replied. Like Sora he had black hair, but while Sora's was rather spiky, his was less gravity defying and was instead draped over his face, covering part of his forehead.

"Kei, meet , meet Kei." Sora introduced them.

Another set of 'Hi's followed before Sora continued and the girls took their seats. Rei noticed he wore the same uniform they wore, despite never seeing him before. 'Maybe he's in Yumi's class, he does look rather young and they seem to know each other.' She reasoned.

"Making a new deck?" Sora asked, gesturing to the cards splayed out on the table.

"Yeah, I'm trying to test out something." He replied.

"I'm trying to make a new deck too." Sora said.

"What did you play before?" Kei asked.

"A Bad Reaction To Simochi centered deck."

Yumi saw a look of amusement on Kei's face. "Weird, right. He seem like the type of person to use more direct tactics."

"Yeah," Kei agreed. "I'd have expected dragons or warriors."

"Or machines." Yumi continued. "Or maybe a beat-down Normal deck."

"You know, maybe this kind of reception is why I'm changing my deck." Sora pouted, unamused.

"Aww, so my thoughts matter that much to you." Yumi added.

"D-Don't be ridiculous." Sora said as Yumi laughed and Kei chuckled, Rei even joining in.

Sora brought out a large square box filled with cards from his bag. "Let's get deck building."

Yumi eyes widened at the size of the box. "Do you carry that everyday?"

"Of course not." Sora answered. "I knew I was coming to the card shop so I just brought it along. What pack do you suggest I get?" He asked no one in particular.

"I don't know, you're the one who wants to create a new deck, not me." Yumi said, going through Sora's cards.

"I usually just buy a few packs and check out the cards, you can do that, if anyone catches your eye, you can try to build a deck around it." Kei suggested.

"You have Darklord Asmodeus?!" Rei, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly spoke up, spotting the Fairy-type monster in the stash of cards.

"Yep, got it while back, must have forgotten about it." Sora said.

"Are you willing to trade it?" Rei asked.

"Sure, I don't think I'm gonna be using it any time soon." Sora said.

"Thanks." Rei replied. "What do you want in return?"

"I don't know." He replied. "I'll choose when I decide on which direction to go. Now lemme see…" he said, rummaging through his cards

* * *

"I'm feeling really good about this new deck." Sora beamed. After constructing a test deck, he had a duel with Kei, which he won.

"You're only saying that because you won." Rei pointed out.

"Of course, of what use is a deck that can't win?" He asked. "This deck clearly allows my skill to shine through."

"Please, it seemed like luck to me." Yumi said.

"It wasn't luck." Sora responded. "It was as a result of clever execution of a perfectly laid out plan."

"Nah, drawing Full Force Strike when you happened to have Blade Armor Ninja was luck." Yumi insisted.

"It was the heart of the cards." Sora smirked, patting the shorter girl on the head. "The heart of the cards."

Pushing Sora's arm away, Yumi spoke. "Heart of the cards… weird to hear someone say that."

"What's that?" Rei asked.

"Some absurd belief that a person's deck responds to their feelings." Yumi answered.

"It isn't absurd." Sora said. "It's a little something called having faith in your deck."

Yumi giggled. "The same faith that caused you to change decks after losing five duels in a row!"

Sora puffed up in fake anger. "How dare you accuse me of not having faith in the heart of the cards!"

Rei laughed as Yumi and Sora continued bickering. "She does have a point."

"I only changed my deck cause I wanted to try something different." Sora pouted. "Not because I losses were more than twice my wins with that deck."

"Right." Yumi smirked.

The three came to a stop as they arrived at a juction, Sora and Yumi usually part ways with Rei there. "Till tomorrow then." Sora said.

"Yeah." Rei replied.

"Bye-Bye!" Yumi waved as they resumed walking.

Rei waved back, watching as they left. Gripping the straps of her bag, she continued walking. Being alone made her mind go back to the whole Number Cards incident, it somewhat felt good to know that she'll be rid of the card by the next day.

'Speak of the devil.' She thought. He was hard to recognize in the stalker-ish get-up he sported, but she could still see his silver hair peeking through the bottom of his head warmer. "Hey!"

Hiro exhaled sharply as he saw the Rei approaching, clearly not happy to see her. "What do you want?"

"Do you live around here?" Rei asked, ignoring his question.

"No." He replied, his eyes focusing on someone behind her. "I'm kinda busy right now, so…"

"Are you Number hunting?" She asked, rather excitedly.

"I guess." He replied, still not looking at her. "I'm following someone who has a Number card."

"Can I follow you?" She asked, figuring if she has a choice to be a Number hunter, she might as well find out how it goes.

Hiro thought for a moment, at first it seemed like he was about to refuse but he surprisingly allowed her. "Sure, whatever." He began walking quickly.

Rei found herself almost running to keep up with him. "Quick thought, you should probably lose the headwarmer. The coat is bad enough, but along with the headgear it just screams stalker." Hiro glared the girl but removed it nonetheless.

"Who are we following?" She asked.

"The guy wearing the yellow shirt and the brown scarf." Hiro said. "It's… almost seven o'clock, won't your parents be expecting you home by now." He asked, looking at his watch.

"My mom works late, so no." Rei replied. She half expected him to pry for more information, but she was relieved when he didn't speak again.

They followed the man into a supermarket, making sure to stay unnoticed as they tailed him. It looked like the man was grocery shopping, his basket was filled with nothing but food items.

"Do you do this every time?" Rei asked.

"No, most possessed people end up going berserk during duels." He answered.

"He seems harmless." Rei noticed. "He's just grocery shopping. What makes you so sure he has a number."

"Look at his neck closely."

Rei squinted, focusing on the man's neck. She made out a faint crimson glow shining through the rather fickle material of the scarf. "You're suspicious of him because of a faint glow through his scarf."

"He wasn't always wearing the scarf."

"Why waste time following him if he isn't harming anybody?" Rei argued. "Sure he might have a Number Card, but he might not be possessed by it."

The silver haired boy thought differently however. "You don't know what emotion the Number is feeding off, you don't know if he's already hurt someone else, and you don't know what he'll do as time goes on."

"If all Number holders are as dangerous as you say, why haven't you forced me into a duel and taken mine?"

"Yeah… why haven't I?" He stated, his tone dark and edgy.

Rei took a step back. She had managed to convince herself that Hiro wasn't a dangerous person based on how he treated her after her duel with Miki, with the way he sounded and acted now, she wasn't so sure anymore.

Noticing Rei's reaction, Hiro sighed but said nothing. He left the girl to her own thoughts, grabbing something off the shelf and following the man to the checkout area.

Rei found herself wondering why she even followed him, it was as though she didn't notice how cold and shady had been. He seemed so fixated on gathering the Number Cards for some reason, and she wasn't sure it was to prevent the cards from wreaking havoc anymore.

"Excuse me miss, can I help you?"

She snapped out of her reverie, noticing the female that spoke. "Oh, sorry. I'm fine, just got lost in my thoughts for a moment, nothing to worry about." She hurriedly replied, punctuating her words with a smile.

"Oh well, no problem." The woman replied, turning around and looking to assist other customers.

Rei checked her purse to check how much money she had on her. 'Might as well seize the moment and buy some stuff, it's not like mom will.'

Rei exited the supermarket, noticing that the sun had set a long while ago, the sky was already dark and the moon was out. Still dressed in her school uniform, with her school bag and a bag of food items, she left for home.

However, her walk was interrupted when she noticed two people standing in the parking lot, they seemed to be dueling, and just as she suspected it was Hiro and the guy in the yellow shirt. Once again, curiosity got the better of her and she put on her D-Gazer to watch the duel.

Hiro: 4000 | Dai: 4000

Rei noticed that he guy in the yellow shirt, apparently named Dai, now that she could see him properly, had scruffy brown hair. He was wearing brown pants, and he had an unsettled expression on his face.

Hiro wasn't having much luck, he had two cards in his hand, the Continuous Spell Card: Supply Squad active on his field and a face-down card, while his opponent had a lone face-down card on his field. It was Dai's turn now, and the man drew his card.

Dai glanced at the three cards in his hand, taking some time before placing one onto his Duel Disk. "I special summon Jester Confit!"

A short clown dressed in purple appeared on the field, the clown moved around trying to balance on a red and white striped ball. (LV1, 0 ATK)

"I release Jester Confit, advance summon! Tenmataitei!"

The clown disappeared in a burst of light and a new creature appeared on the field. The creature's armor clattered as he rode his horse upon touching the ground, the steed, also garbed in armor, had two wings at its sides. The rider's red cape billowed behind him as the horse came to a stop. (LV5, 2400 ATK)

"Go! Tenmataitei, attack him directly!" Dai ordered, his monster riding towards the silver haired boy in response.

"I activate Draining Shield! Negating your attack and gaining Life Points equal to your monsters attack points." Hiro said, and true to his words, a luminous barrier stopped the warrior's lance from striking him, instead bathing him with light.

Hiro: 4000 - 6400 | Dai: 4000

"Turn end." Dai said, gritting his teeth in annoyance.

"My turn, draw." Hiro said. "I summon Umbral Horror Ghoul."

A being with purple skin appeared before Hiro. A black cloth hung around its body, tied at it's neck. A pool of some purple material lay where it stood, its left leg sinking into it. (LV4, 1800 ATK)

"I activate Ghoul's effect, reducing its attack to zero to special summon an Umbral Horror monster from my hand. I summon Umbral Horror Will ó the Wisp." Hiro said as his monster's attack reduced. (LV4, 1800 - 0 ATK)

A eerie purple orb of light appeared next to the ghoul. (LV1, 0 ATK)

"When Will ó the Wisp is summoned, I can target an Umbral Horror monster I control and its level becomes the level of the selected monster. I select Ghoul, so Will ó the Wisp's level becomes four." Hiro said. (LV1 - 4, 0 ATK)

"I activate the effect of Ehther the Heavenly Monarch. By banishing The Monarchs Stormforth Spell Card in my graveyard, I can advance summon it right now!" Dai suddenly voiced, taking the card out of his graveyard, he slammed the new card onto his Duel Disk. "I release Tenmataitei to advance summon Ehther the Heavenly Monarch!"

The warrior and his steed vanished in a burst of pixels, and in their place a much more imposing being appeared. The new creature sat upon a silver throne, garbed in white robes with golden embroidery. The being was wearing pieces of armor around its hands and torso, and her head was covered completely by a helmet. (LV8, 2800 ATK)

"Ehther's effect activates, when advance summoned, I can special summon a monster from my deck with 2400 or more Attack Points and 1000 Defense points by sending two Monarch Spell or Trap Cards from my deck to the graveyard." Dai explained, milling the required cards. "I'll special summon Kuraz the Light Monarch!"

A monster covered with golden armor from head to toe appeared. The only part of the creature's body that wasn't covered was its hands, which appeared blue in color. (LV6, 2400 ATK)

"Kuraz's effect activates when he's summoned, I can destroy two cards on the field, and the owner of the cards destroyed draws a card for each." Dai continued, a smile creeping onto his face.

Hiro grunted in annoyance as both his monsters shattered into pixels, he drew two cards afterwards, bringing the cards in his hand up to a total of three. "Supply Squad activates, allowing me to draw one more card." He said, adding a fourth card to his hand. "I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"At the end phase, the monster summoned by Ehther's effect is sent to my hand." Dai said, the golden warrior returning to his hand.

At the sidelines, Rei found herself marveled by the play Dai had just executed. He effectively stopped Hiro from counter attacking and pushed him into defending with just one card from his hand.

"My turn, draw." Dai said. "Ehther the Heavenly Monarch, direct attack!" The female monarch stretched forth her staff, sending a blast of energy towards Hiro.

"Trap Card activate! Mirror Force!" Hiro countered. "This will wipe out your monster."

"I don't think so, I counter with Destruction Jammer!" Dai said as his reversed card flipped up, placing a card from his hand into the graveyard. "By tossing a card from my hand to the graveyard, I can-"

"Wiretap!" Hiro interrupted him, his second reversed card flipping up. "This negates Destruction Jammer and shuffles it back into your deck."

Dai grit his teeth in annoyance, taken aback by the silver haired boy's counter. The female monarch was destroyed as an invincible barrier deflected her attack back to her.

"I end my turn with a face-down card." Dai said, a reversed card appearing before him.

Hiro took some time to stare at his opponent before beginning his turn. "Draw." He said. "I summon Tour Guide from the Underworld."

A red haired female dressed in a purple blazer and skirt appeared, she had a black bag with a skull design on it. (LV3, 1000 ATK)

"When she's summoned, I can special summon a level three fiend from my deck." Hiro said. "I'll summon Dark Resonator."

A small fiend wearing a grey helmet which shielded most of its face save for its blood red eyes appeared, tuning fork in hand. (LV3, 1300 ATK)

"Level three Dark Resonator and Tour Guide, overlay!" Hiro said. Both monsters turned purple and flew upwards, a galaxy styled portal appearing where they were.

Rei's eyes widened, recognizing the portal. 'He's summoning a Number!'

Hiro meanwhile continued his summoning. "Using these monsters I construct the overlay network!" The two monsters shot into the portal, an explosion of light following moments after. "Appear! Number 72: Forgotten Deity Hiderigami!"

Out of the portal rose what seemed to be a statue of a female wearing a robe. The moonlight was reflected off it as though it was metallic, despite it being made of stone. The statue woman who was in the fetal position started to move, slowly standing up. Suddenly it was engulfed by black flames, and almost instantly reduced to ashes. As the smoke dispersed a grotesque beast stood where the statue had been, seven foot long it was, with a single eye placed atop what was supposedly its head. It had a single hand supporting it, its hard black abrasive skin only making the sight of it worse. Two purple orbs orbited it. (RNK3, 1500 ATK, 2 OLU)

Rei watched as Dai's behavior changed once he saw the Number Card. "N-Number… must get Numbers…" he chocked out, his movements getting slow and unnatural, as though he was hypnotized. The glow of the number on his neck grew brighter.

"I use Hiderigami's effect, paying 1000 Life Points to destroy all other cards on my field.

Hiro: 6400 - 5400 | Dai: 4000

Hiro stood watching his opponent's actions, his stoic expression not changing in the slightest. Many cracks started to appear in the ground around Number 12, his Continuous Spell Card shattering in the process.

"When Hiderigami is the only card I control, its effects can be utilized." Hiro said. "Go! Forgotten Deity Hiderigami, attack!"

Despite his weird behavior, Dai pushed the button to activate his face-down card. "I activate The First Monarch!"

Both Rei and Dai were shocked when the Trap Card burst into pixels as soon as it flipped up. "W-what the hell?!" Dai barked.

"Hiderigami's effect." Hiro pointed out. "When my opponent activates a card effect, by detaching an overlay unit, she negates and destroys it."

One of the beast's overlay units merely dissipated as it briefly glowed purple. (RNK3, 1500 ATK, 2 - 1 OLU)

With the Trap Card out of the way, the beast continued it's attack, moving with blinding speed and smashing into Dai, sending him falling a few feet back.

Hiro: 5400 | Dai: 4000 - 2500

Dai got himself to a sitting position, managing to speak despite the coughing fit he was experiencing. "I've not lost yet… I'll get your Number Card… and I'll show you what true fear is!"

"Oh, will you?" Hiro said in the same cold and dark tone he had used towards Rei. "Hiderigami can attack twice each turn. This time I activate Ego Boost from my hand, granting her 1000 attack points."

The one eyed beast gained a golden glow, setting its sight on the brown haired male. (RNK3, 1500 - 2500 ATK, 1 OLU)

"H-how?" Dai forced out as the beast hurtled towards him.

The impact was less painful than the first, it only succeded in pushing him to his back.

Hiro: 5400 | Dai: 2500 - 0

The klaxon sounded, signifying the end of the duel, but the Number didn't disappear. It stuck its hand into Dai's chest, all the while staring at him. The brown haired male screamed as the beasts hand entered his chest, at first he thought it was all part of the augmented reality, but it felt like something was really boring through his chest.

Hiro approached the fallen man, the beast's hand still in his chest. He was stopped however, as his arm was pulled back.

"Why aren't you doing anything?! Make it stop!" Rei shouted.

Hiro didn't respond, instead he yanked his arm away from her grasp, resuming walking towards the boy, Rei's yelling doing nothing more than annoy him.

The Number disappeared as he reached Dai. The man was still was conscious, but rather disoriented. Hiro picked up a card next to the man, gazing at it shortly before putting it into his extra deck and leaving.

Rei ran in front of him, blocking his path, her eyes filled with anger. "How could you do that?! You talk about Number hunting like it's some noble mission but you just go around hurting people with your Number?! How can-"

"This is Number hunting," he interrupted her, pausing for a moment before continuing. "Whether you like it or not. I guess I'll be taking your Number tomorrow."

Rei watched the boy walk away, she was still angry about what had just happened. She suddenly realized the weird glances the few people around were giving her, they were in a parking lot after all. She left the fallen man alone, scared of being held responsible for anything that happens to him.

* * *

"Where have you been?"

"At a friend's." Rei lied. Standing in the corridor, just in front of her room was her mom.

Rei was the splitting image of her mom, both had red hair and brown eyes, but while Rei's hair was shoulder length, her mom allowed hers to reach her waist. If it wasn't for the obvious age difference between the two, one could believe they were sisters.

"Which one?" The older woman asked, but Rei knew she wasn't really interested. Her tired eyes and tone of voice said much about how she felt.

"Yumi, the girl with the pink hair."

"Oh, right." Her mom answered, but Rei wasn't so sure she remembered her.

Rei opened the door to her room, entering and tossing her bag onto her bed.

"What do you want for dinner?" Her mom asked.

"I'm not hungry." She replied, closing the door. "Goodnight mom."

"Wait, Rei..." Her mom said, sighing sadly as the door was slammed shut and locked. "Goodnight… princess." She said softly.

Rei put on a pair of headphones, pressing shuffle on her phone's music player. She didn't really care what she listened to, she just wanted to not think about anything. She didn't want to think about Hiro, her mom, and most certainly her dad, she just wanted to forget everything.

* * *

 **Author's Notes.**

I apologize if anyone feels like the duel was too short, I felt like it was better this way. I hope you like the chapter though, most of the next few chapter will be mostly focused on Rei and Hiro as I'm trying to establish their characters properly. All forms of feedback is welcome, especially constructive criticism. Thanks for reading!

 **Author made cards**

Number 72: Forgotten Diety Hiderigami

RNK3

Dark/Xyz/Beast/Effect

1500 ATK/ 1200 DEF

Two LV3 DARK monsters  
When this card is Xyz Summoned, you can pay 1000 Life Points, if you do, destroy all other cards on your side of the field.  
This card can attack twice during each battle phase.  
When your opponent activates a card effect, if this card is the only card you control, you can detach one overlay unit, and if you do, negate and destroy the card.


End file.
